A history of Italian tiles - 7 (2001) - Infotile

A History of Italian Tiles - Part viiThe leopard changes its spots?By Garreth CruikshankSomewhere, someone was playingthe Mission Impossible theme on aclapped-out Hammond organ. I wishedthey would stop. As I roused myself tofull wakefulness the true source of thenoise became clear - my cell phone.“Yes, hello.” Too late. I had missedthem. They’d call back. I looked around,bewildered. Where was I? Not Forli.Slowly it dawned on me - somehow Ihad managed to make my way homefrom the Opera House and put myselfto bed. The clock said 10.20 a.m. Iyawned and went back to bed. Ohh, Ifelt terrible.This was going to be a critical visit, ado-or-die meeting. I was determinedthat we should get to the bottomof this mystery. I was sure SignoraPoletta knew more than she wasletting on. I needed some answers.The phone rang. “Pronto.”“Ciao bello. It’s me. What time will Ipick you up?”“When are we meeting her?”“4.30 p.m.”“4 o’clock in the lobby then. I’llbe carrying a book and a painedexpression.”“So what’s new. O.K. Ciao,” and withthat Patrizia hung up. I had just overan hour.‘Volume seven of Bodkin’s research’was a small red leather tome. Whilethe handwriting was still recognisablyhis, it was more scrawled. It hadacquired an urgent, edgy quality. Gonewas the precise, self-controlled hand.‘With the exceptions of Lazio andVenice, Italy was unified in March1861, an event brought about bya number of factors: a fortunatediplomatic situation combined withCavour’s masterly ability to exploitit, and Garibaldi’s spirit of adventureto name but a few. But unificationcame at a price, both economic andpolitical. It had been achieved by aseries of annexations of Piedmont ofthe various pre-existing Italian states,so the new nation, from the start,developed more as an expansion ofthe old Piedmont rather than a new,original political organism. Until 1864Turin was the nations capital; projectsfor an administrative system basedon the autonomy of the regions wereabandoned, to be replaced by a rigidlycentralised system. Also the electorallaw favoured the economicallydeveloped regions, to the extent thatin more than one region of Italy thevote became the privilege of a fewnotabilities. This heavy bureaucratic,censorial character was at the heartof the new state’s prematureunpopularity, brought into being bythe gap between the government andthe governed. It was this unpopularitywhich was the heaviest price Italyhad to pay for the way unification hadbeen achieved.In June 1861, a few short monthsafter the proclamation of the Kingdomof Italy, Cavour unexpectedly died, andItaly was deprived of her great leader.The men who inherited his heavyresponsibilities were at pains not towander too far from the path he hadindicated.These men, who belonged to thegovernment of the ‘historical Right’,from 1861-1876, were obsessed withthe task of making up the state’sawesome deficit and balancing thebudget. From 1869, due to draconianfiscal measures, the condition of thetreasury improved and a balancedbudget was achieved in 1876.In the meantime the Cavour - inspiredpolicies of construction of publicworks and infrastructure continuedto gather momentum. Italy’s effort inthe area of railway building was themost impressive, with the networkexpanding from 2,175 km in 1870 to8,713 km in 1880.A policy of public works and budgetadjustment could only be achieved ina country of limited economicresources, by means of extremelysevere taxation. In fact, Italians weresoon the most heavily taxed peoplein Europe. The effects were felt onthe level of consumption, was keptvirtually stationary - hence productiontoo was affected. The very lowbuying power of the great mass ofconsumers certainly did not favour thedevelopment of such manufacturingindustries as existed, which were, inany case, quite unable to competewith the cheaper foreign productsthat the liberal policies of the Rightallowed free entry to the country.In the south in particular, thiscombination of free trade and taxationpractically extinguished the scatteredlocal industry.Some scholars have maintained thatthe type of economic policy describedhere corresponds to the initial phaseof capitalism preceding its true ‘takeoff’,in which the initial problems arean ‘original’ accumulation of capitaland the construction of the necessaryinfrastructures; in short, a pre-industrialphase. And that is precisely what thegovernment did. The problem wasnot to encourage the developmentof industrial production, whichwould have been premature, but toencourage, rather, this accumulationand prepare the conditions in whichthe ‘take-off’ could occur.For men like Cavour and FrancescoFerrera, who had grown up in theage of triumphant capitalism andfree trade, Italy’s development intoan independent bourgeois countrypresupposed her unreserved entryinto the great circuit of Europeantrade. Once exposed to the biting windof competition, Italian agriculturalistsand businessmen would have tomake a virtue of necessity andtransform their concerns into modernorganisations able to compete onthe international market. Economicand social regeneration would, ofnecessity, advance from below,from the free initiative and individualproducers, as had happened in thegreat bourgeois countries of Europe.This would be a slow process, butits gradualness would guarantee itssuccess, theoretically.However, the unimaginativesuccessors of Cavour’s legacydid almost nothing to remove theobstacles that, in the new Italy,obstructed the free development ofbourgeois energies from below.As the years passed and stagnationcontinued, the more perspicacioussectors of public opinion began to

suspect that the prospect of alongdevelopment from below might not bebest suited to Italy, which had to makeup for a great deal of lost time andwas pressed by urgent problemsdemanding immediate attention. Thequestion was asked whether Italy toocould not take those short-cuts thathad allowed Germany, a few yearsafter its constitution as a nation, tobecome a great independent powerwhose products now reached themarkets of the world, and whosetechnical ability aroused the envy ofall its competitors. So, somewhatconfusedly, there took shapethe prospect of a Prussian line ofcapitalist development: an economictransformation brought aboutfrom above, and with the state’scontribution as a determining factor,under the banner of protectionismand the reinforcement of the country’sinternational prestige.In about 1874 ‘economic Germanism’began to be discussed in Italy.This concept propounded the needto reconsider the free-trade biastraditionally part of Italian economicpolicy. That the state should act as anaccelerating force to the economy wassomething both admitted in theoryand practised by all the governmentswhat had ruled Italy. The economy’s‘modus vivendi’, the bond betweenthe bourgeois manufacturers andbusinessmen of the north and thesouthern landowners was alsomodelled on Bismarck’s Germany.In 1878 pressure from the textileand machine industries in the northsucceeded in winning a protectivecustoms tariff from the government.From that moment Italy’s economiclife became more sustained and themoney market more animated. Thisdevelopment was assisted also bythe introduction of new forms ofcredit specifically designed to financeinvestments on the French example.The new banks also moved in thisdirection. Some of the capital wasinvested speculatively: the 1880s sawthe first rush towards speculativebuilding. Rome was subject toindiscriminate demolitions, and thecentre of the capital emerged with apretentious new face, forever marredby a number of eyesores - of which themost monumental is without a doubtthe so-called ‘Altar of the Nation’. InFlorence and Naples the demolitionsquads were also active.But a considerable part of the capitalon the market was employed in moreproductive, long-term investments,in industry. The advance of themetal industry was spectacular;the chemical, machine and mineralindustries all made steady progress,and the electrical industry alsotook its first steps. All these areaswere essential to the ultimatetransformation of the tile sector into amodern industrial enterprise.On the whole the production of Italianindustry made a general increase of 37per cent from 1881 to 1887, with anannual growth rate of 4.6 per cent.Italy’s first modest industrial boomcoincided with the beginning of thegreat agricultural crisis. The rise inprices of industrial products that wereprotected by customs barriers talliedwith the fall of agricultural prices,and the draining of capital from thecountryside of the town, from the southto the north steadily increased. Thearrival of American corn, made possibleby a drastic reduction in sea freightcharges created a crisis throughoutEurope, though in Italy it was the moreserious in that an agricultural system aspoor in capital as her’s was weak andunprepared to face it.figure AA four tile forerunner (12.5cm x 12.5cm)of the 20cm product that swept europein the 70’s, produced in 1903.Once again it was the poorest countrypeople who had to pay the price. Manywere seized by the desperate desireto escape from the downward spiral ofpoverty and degradation in which theywere trapped. At first unobtrusively,then with mounting speed, theretook shape the phenomenon of massemigration. Swarms of emigrantscrammed onto transatlantic shipsbound for the vast melting-pot ofNorth America, or else tried theirchances as farmers in Latin America.In the five year period 1886-90 theaverage annual number of emigrantswas approximately 222,000.In 1887 a new tariff was drawn up,marking a very important step in thehistory of Italian capitalism, and maybe considered the birth certificate ofwhat Gramsci called the ‘agriculturalindustrialbloc of the Italian dominantclasses’, for the new tariff raisedsubstantially the customs barriersprotecting the infant Italian industry.However, far from involving a processof levelling and of regeneration frombelow, the development of capitalismin Italy represented a widening of thealready immense social and regionalgaps existing in the country. The resultwas a social fabric in which new andold were juxtaposed and interwoven,in which a capitalism with a highdegree of monopolistic concentration,a close interrelationship of banks andindustry and state protection coexistedwith an agriculture that insome regions was still at a semifeudalstage, and with omnipresenthandicrafts at a cottage level.The five years from March 1896 toDecember 1900 are among the mostturbulent and spectacular of all thehistory of united Italy. Street uprisingswere bloodily repressed (with cannonfire), parliamentarians overturned thevoting-urns, there were anarchist actsof violence, duels between politicalleaders, and, finally, the assassinationof a king. The picture of a century’send, pregnant with apocalyptic fearsand hopes, is complete.Nevertheless, the economic pictureduring this period was healthy. From1896-1908 the annual growth rateof Italian industry on the whole wasnoticeably high, at 6.7 per cent. Someexperimental industries such asmetallurgy, chemicals and machinery,all vital to the tile industry, showeda growth rate of more then 12 percent. The automobile industry madea dramatic surge forward. Motor carproduction companies multipliedrapidly, from seven in 1900 to seventyin 1907.But the protection enjoyed by Italy’sindustrial majors does not adequatelyexplain their rapid development. Thereis another factor to be taken intoaccount - the low cost of labour.At the beginning of the century theItalian worker was not only one ofthe worst paid in Europe, but alsoworked the longest hours, for therewas no law limiting the working day.As for wages, in spite of the increasesthat had followed the agitations andstrikes of the first years of the newcentury, the wide use of female andjuvenile labour did much to keepthem low.

On the other hand a considerablepart of the population experienced arise in their standard of living duringthe early years of the 20th century.The entrepreneurial middle class hadtaken advantage of the good economiccircumstances, skilled workers hadwon wage increases and a shorterworking day, the salaries of low gradecivil servants had risen, the agriculturallabourers of the more highly developedareas of the Po valley had seen theircooperatives develop and prosper. Somany Italians enjoyed, if not prosperity,at least a thrifty middle class decorum,and with it the possibility of a life inwhich there was room for the simpleluxuries and amusements that BELLEEPOQUE Italy provided: Puccini’soperas, D’Annunzio’s novels, thecinema. Sport was another fashionablepastime, and in particular motor-racing:Italian cars - Fiats, Maseratis, AlfaRomeos dominated the racing scene.For the masses there was football andcycling.I stood up, stretched and lit a cigarette.3.45 p.m. Patrizia would be here in 15minutes. I puffed on my cigarette andreflected on what I had just read. Allthis attention paid by Bodkin to theeconomic development, the slow butsteady march of the nation towardsindustrialisation was by way of preludeto his attempt to depict the emergenceof the Italian ceramic tile industry in the50 years or so prior to his undertakinghis research, it seemed to me.The specific political policies andideologies of leaders such as Crispi,Depretis, Di Rudini and Giolitti are ofsecondary importance, if that, and thenonly insofar as they throw light on theparticular details of the socio-economicrealities that he saw as pertinent tohis observations. Hence Bodkin’sreferences to the metallurgy, steel,chemical, electrical and automotivefigure BThis vase, madein early 19oo’s byfabbrica fratelliminardi displaysmany of thehallmarks of “Stileliberty”: sinuouscurving lines,flat areasof colour,floralmotifs anda youngwoman withlong flowing“patrizia-like”hair.industries, all essential infrastructuralelements for the tile industry’srenascence; or so it seemed to me.But as with so much that Bodkin refersto, or chooses to overlook, it is notalways clear what his true meaningis. Indeed I am constantly left withthe disquieting impression that he issaying much more, and at the sametime less, than I suppose.In consequence of the aboveobservations it should surprise noone,least of all me, that, having madehis point, Bodkin should launch, withcavalier abandon, into an analysis ofthe dominant artistic style of the day- Art Nouveau.‘Art Nouveau was a complex turn ofthe century stylistic phenomenon thatmanifested itself in many aspects ofart, architecture and design includingtiles and architectural ceramics. Itsheyday was between the years 1890and 1914.It was characterised by the dominantuse of ‘line’; sinuous, whiplash curvinglines. Its second characteristic wasan emphasis on flat areas of colour,which added vitality to the lineardesign. Thirdly, these lines and flatcolours were applied to organic designmotifs such as plants and flowerswith slender, sinuous stems andtendrils, different varieties of insects,water birds and young women withlong, flowing hair. Drawing on thesethemes, designers created voluptuousimages expressed in wrought iron,glass, stone and terracotta cladding,timber and tiles.Though certain general designcharacteristics are identifiablewhatever the medium or the countryof origin, Art Nouveau lackedstylistic homogeneity. It was anartistic movement that took differentdirections in each country and wasalso intertwined with the industrial,social, scientific and politicaldevelopments of its time. New formsof industrial production, increasingurbanisation, breakthroughs in scienceand technology, worldwide trade andthe rise of nationalism as a politicalforce, all contributed to a new worldview marked by a sense of everaccelerating progress and change.The very name, ‘Art Nouveau’highlights the sense of renewal. InItaly the phenomenon was known as‘Stile Liberty’, suggesting ‘newness’,‘youth’, ‘modernity’, and indicating aperiod poised on the threshold of anew era.Art Nouveau’s strength proceeded fromits diversity, complexity, ambiguity andits pan-European manifestations. Thestruggle of forms it represented wasa struggle of world views: chauvanismmixed with universalism, art cominglingwith science, the pagan withChristian. It can be decadent andprogressive, national and liberal,eastern and western, vernacular andinternational, urban and rural, imperialand social, natural and artificial, materialand spiritual.Art Nouveau was an attempt to givea new direction to 19th century art,architecture and design and a rejectionof the stultifying historicism of existingacademic art replaced with a radical newidiom based on nature and non-classicalEuropean design sources, in particularJapanese. Japan’s porcelain andwoodcuts opened the eyes of Europeanartists to the purely formalistic qualitiesof strong line and equally strong colour.Art Nouveau aspired to be ‘new’ in aworld full of progressive developments.The spread of ideas and internationalcontacts was accelerated by thenumerous World Fairs convened inEurope and America since the GreatExhibition of 1851 in London. Here,manufacturers were able to exhibittheir wares as part of national stands.These became important industrialshowcases for a multitude of productsincluding tiles and architecturalceramics. For the participatingcountries it was also an opportunity tosee the efforts of rival manufacturers.International juries bestowed highlycoveted prizes and medals, and tilemanufacturers’ catalogues of theperiod often boasted these awards.The Rubbiani family were the firstin Italy to modernise manufacturingtechniques by introducing dry pressingfrom England, a technique discoveredby Prosser in 1861 and immediatelyemployed by the entrepreneurialHerbert Minton, with spectacularsuccess. In 1889, at the Exhibition ofthe Artistic and Industrial Museum inRome, Carlo Rubbiani did not exhibitthe usual ornamental vases buta range of maiolica tiles. In 1890, atthe Modena Exhibition, he presentedceramic miniatures, i.e. tiles withmechanically reproduced decorations.In 1895, Carlo’s company manufacturedand earthenware for everyday use andpainted tiles for floors that were soldmainly in Rome and Naples. Recordsreveal that by 1907 their productswere being sold throughout Italy andwere even being exported to SouthAmerica.

The growth in the market for ceramictiles was, in part, a manifestation of theincreasing awareness of the importanceof durable and hygienic surfaces inpublic, commercial and domesticbuildings. Tiles and architecturalceramics were recognised as beingdurable and easily cleaned, whileat the same time highly decorative,hence their (increasingly) popular usein hospitals, railway stations, schools,libraries and hotels, and in commercialbuildings such as offices, warehousesand shops; while in the domesticsphere they were ideal for claddingwalls in entrance porches, vestibules,kitchens and bathrooms.Another aspect was the interest inthe use of colour on the exteriorof buildings for aesthetic effects asexpressed in the writings of sucharchitects as Viollet-le-Duc and PaulSedille, who favoured ceramic surfaceslike glazed bricks and tiles rather thanpainted plaster and stucco which hadbeen the norm until then.The Art Nouveau style, essentiallydecorative in principle, was readilyadapted to tile design. Factoriescopied each others’ products, as therewas little design protection at thisperiod, and this also led to the rapidproliferation of the style.In Italy Art Nouveau manifested itselfquite late because the country hadstarted on the road to modernisationwell after the rest of developedEurope, and it had felt the weightof its classical past more than itsneighbours. Even at the turn of thecentury Italy was still better knownfor its Roman antiquities andRinascimento art treasures than for itscontemporary architecture or industrialdesign - a fact that was bemoaned bythe radical poet Marinetti in his famousmanifesto of Futurism in 1909. Thea building in faenza decorated witha wide ceramic tile frieze in the“stile liberty”. it is one of many whichreveal the influence of viollet-le-duc,who favoured ceramic surfaces overtraditional painted plaster and stucco.figure Cemergence of Art Nouveau in Italywas therefore an important attempt tobreak with past aesthetics.The Italians referred to Art Nouveauas ‘Stile Floreale’ or ‘Stile Liberty’.The latter name signifies the stronginfluence of English design which hadbeen introduced into Italy via Liberty’sof London, whose progressive lookingproducts were very much in vogue atthat time. Though Italy lagged behindin the field of contemporary designit was provided with a significantstimulus by the first InternationalExposition of Modern Decorative Artheld in Turin in 1902. This exhibitionwas to prove the last great showcasefor European Art Nouveau. France,Belgium, Holland, Germany, Hungary,England and Scotland were allrepresented, as countries that hadalready made important contributionsto the movement.One of the Italian buildings at theexhibition was Palazzina Lauro,financed by the businessman AgostinoLauro and designed by the architectGiuseppe Velati-Bellini. Their aimwas to create a unified architecturalstatement in the equivalent of ArtNouveau. Ceramic tiles were partof the scheme, employed to addcolour to the exterior. Tiles with floraldecorations were used around thewindows and a tile panel at the topof the façade showed two cockerelssurrounded by poppies and earsof corn. The house attractedconsiderable critical comment, but theefforts made by Lauro and Velati-Bellini were sufficient for them to beawarded a gold medal.The ceramic artist Galileo Chini(1873 - ?) became one of the principalexponents of Italian Art Nouveautiles and pottery. In 1896 he wasco-founder of Arte della Ceramica inFlorence where he became artisticdirector. In 1907 his firm amalgamatedwith the ceramics factory of Chini &Co. in Florence, which was owned bya member of his family, and movedto Borgo San Lorenzo. Tile designs byChini vary from naturalistic floral relieftiles and semi-abstract stencilled floralpatterns to exuberantly hand paintedfigurative Art Nouveau panels.Some fine examples of Art Nouveautiling can still be seen on buildingsin Milan, Florence, Ferrara, Viareggioand Faenza. In Milan striking panels inthe style depicting men and womendecorate a large apartment block bythe architect Giovan Battista Bossion Via Malpighi, built between 1902and 1905. In Florence, Galileo Chinimade the tiles for a large villa inViale Michelangelo designed by thearchitect Giovanni Michelazzi in 1904.Late Art Nouveau tile work of a morerestrained kind can be found in theseaside resort of Viareggio.‘This town was developed at thebeginning of the 29th century, a grandcivic expression of ‘Italietta’. It was aleisure and spa resort for the nouveauxriches from the growing industrialtowns of northern Italy. Cafes, hotels,cinemas and seaside villas were builtto accommodate the burgeoningtourist trade. Villa Argentina, builtapproximately 1910, is an outstandingbuilding. Tile panels decorate the entirelength of the upper façade. They depictcupids carrying baskets of fruit on theirheads. The areas in between the cupidpanels are filled with checkerboardpatterns of dark and light tiles, strictlygeometric layouts that anticipate theearly phase of Art Deco.’I raced downstairs. Patrizia sat perchedon a crimson damask ottoman smokinga cigarette. With a vivid multi-colouredshawl draped over her shouldersand the tangle of long black hair sheresembled the subject of a paintingby Gustave Klimt or a tile panel byBattista Bossi. She stubbed out hercigarette and inspected me criticallyfor a moment or two “Bravo. Let’sgo.” Before I could reply she was outthe door. Without planning anythingwe had both intuitively understoodwhat the other had been thinking.We needed to make an impressionthat would break down the signora’sdefences. Our chance would notcome again.“How many books did you say therewere?”“Eight.”“How long did it take him to writethem?”“I don’t know. Months. The signorawill know.”“Why would he spend monthsrunning all over the country, meetingpeople, visiting galleries, museumsand libraries, and then leave it allbehind?”“I was thinking the same thing.He took photos as well, and madesketches.Where are they, I’d like to know?There’s just that one photo from ‘L’.”

We went on in this vein until wereached our destination. I knockedon the bright red door flanked bypotted geraniums. The signora lookedpleased to see us and beckonedus in. We both noticed the largevase of flowers on the table. Justthen a young lady in her twentiesemerged from the kitchen with thecoffee paraphernalia. Signora Polettaperformed the introductions. Theyoung woman was her granddaughter,Wanda (pronounced ‘Vernda’). Shewas staying for a few days.“Wanda lives in Ferrara with herparents but is studying Fine Arts at theUniversity of Bologna.” Patrizia and Isat there slack-jawed in amazement,staring at the old lady, for she hadimparted this piece of information inperfect English. She went on, as ifoblivious of our reaction.“Alessandro, her father, thinks sheshould get involved in his business butthe idea doesn’t appeal to her.”“What is his line of business?”“Oh, did I not mention it before ...ceramic tiles of course. As you cansee Professore Bodkin had a greatimpact on me. It was he who taughtme English and instilled in me a loveand appreciation of art and tiles. Don’tthink because we are surrounded bysuch things that all Italian appreciateart. He taught me how to look. ‘Pastthings throw light on future ones;the world was always of a kind; whatis and will be was at some othertime; the same things come back, butunder different names and colours;not everybody recognises them, butonly he who is wise and considersthem diligently’. Signor Bodkin wassuch a man, although he was notalways wise. He could be foolish andtake risks, but he was always clever.”this ceramic tile sign from the firstdecade of the 20th century is still inexcellent condition nearly 100 years on.faenza is generously decorated withceramic testimonies to its illustrioustile making history.figure DI broke in to her incredible monologue,unable to restrain myself any longer.“Signora, I have many questions thatI need you to answer. I have readthe journals constantly since that firstday Patrizia and I met you, but I amconfused. Why did he leave thembehind; why were they amongst therubbish outside that house; why washe in Forli for so long; why did heleave; where did he go; did he evercontact you again? Why were therepages cut from the journals?”“I see you have given this muchthought. You are genuinely interested,otherwise we would be having thisdiscussion with Wanda present. Theyare all good questions. The Professorehad been in Italy for sometimebefore he arrived in Forli. He stayedbecause it was quiet, small but nottoo small and relatively convenientto everything. After a while nobodypaid the eccentric Englishman anyattention. Then things began tochange. He fell under suspicion. Hisconversations became indiscreet andhis journals became more political andless about art.”“Is that why the authorities cut pagesout of them? As evidence.”She smiled. “No, I did that. To protecthim. As I said before, I was in lovewith him, and even though my feelingscould never be returned, I had to savehim.”“From whom?”“From the authorities, and fromhimself. He was playing a dangerousgame. His drawings and photographscould not disguise his true motives,and if I could see it they would see ittoo. His words were more ambiguous.He used history and art as a metaphorfor the present.”“Ah! The quote from Guicciardini. Andcan you tell us who ‘L’ was?”“Not with certainty. The Professorewould not reveal his name. He saidit was best for everyone if he did notsay. We kept his secrets, and therewere many. I always felt there wasa mask hiding his true identity. It’sthere in his writing too. But it was abeautiful mask.”This time it was Patrizia whointerrupted. “Signora, you said hetook risks. What did you mean?’“The people he met, the places hewent. Asking questions, taking notes,photographs, sketches. It was veryeasy to see why his actions provokedsuspicion and were misunderstood.”“But were they misunderstood. Youhave implied that he was what theythought he was,” Patrizia responded.“Professore Bodkin was an observerand a critic. That is all.”“And the people he met? ‘L’?”“The same. But Bodkin was a sharpcritic. When I heard they were aboutto arrest him I warned the Professoreto leave immediately, and then Ihid the journals ... in the schoollibrary at first. No one would look forthem there. Now you are wondering,maybe, why Wanda is here. SignorCruikshank, tomorrow you are leavingForli, yes? If you like, instead ofcatching the train, Wanda can driveyou to Bologna. On the other handyou may wish to visit beautifulFerrera. My son would be pleased tohave you as his guest, and the twoof you could talk about ceramic tiles.Wanda will pick you up tomorrowafternoon. Now if you don’t mind, Iam tired.”We thanked her and walked to thedoor. Patrizia stopped abruptly, turnedand asked, “Signora, was Bodkin hisreal name?”“It is good question. Signor Cruikshank,you are from Australia, yes?”I nodded.“But your name, it is not Australian?”“No. Scottish.”“Ah. Names. They can tell us so much.But they are more like signposts thandefinitions, don’t you think? Goodbye,”and with that she closed the door,leaving Patrizia and me staring ateach other, somewhat dumbstruck.We parted at the hotel promising tomeet for dinner at nine.Back in my room I snatched up thejournal instantly and began to readwith a passionate intensity.“I have been reading Croce’s HISTORYOF ITALY. No one has evoked theglory and the modesty of the ‘Italietta’before the floor - war, depression andwhat is to come - better than him, andno one has done more to make Italianculture aware of its own roots andcontinuity and to confer on it someself-sufficiency.

During the latter part of the 19thcentury the painted maiolica of theRinascimento was naturally the mainsource for much of the decorativeearthenware in Italy. Examples datingfrom the 1870s have been noted, forinstance, from the Ginori pottery atDoccia, from the Torquato Castellanipottery at Rome and the Torelli potteryat Florence; and in 1878 the mostfamous of the potteries devoted to theinitiation of eary maiolica was openedin Florence by Ulysse Cantagalli.The latter half of the century, however,was a period in which many pottersand manufacturers were consciouslyexploring the possibilities of historicand exotic styles. Some followedpeasant art styles. In a number ofporcelain factories a further revivalof the rococo, known as the ThirdRococo, was developed in the lastdecade or so of the century. Amongthe exotic influences the Persian andTurkish styles were prominent in thework of the Cantagalli pottery.In Deruta, throughout the 18th andinto the 19th century productionlevels had been in decline. Umbria’sbrief period under Napoleonic rule,and eventual unification into the newItaly in 1861, did little to alleviatethe general economic crisis in theregion. The manufacture of ceramicsin Deruta was particularly hard hit,because the market, already limitedto local consumption, became smaller.The situation was exacerbated bycompetition from other ceramiccentres such as Castelli d’Abruzzoin the south. Still more competitioncame from the north, where severalcentres (Sassuolo amongst others)gained prominence with ceramicimitations of the increasingly popularporcelain.However these centres werenot immune to the advent ofindustrialisation throughout Europeand the fierce competition of Englishtiles and earthenware. The ceramicindustry up and down the peninsulawas faltering, and Deruta, alreadysuffering reached its lowest ebb.The few remaining factories continuedchurning out a substantial quantity ofmaterial, but it was for everyday useand of poor quality.The second half of the 19th centurywas a growing interest in Rinascimentomaiolica throughout Europe, especiallyin France and England. Some of thegreat maiolica collections in Paris andLondon were established at this time.The resulting commercial interest inantique maiolica was accompaniedby numerous studies by scholars andarchaeologists.Derutans were beginning to realisethat their nearly forgotten heritagewas a precious commodity, notsomething to let slip away. In 1872the city council announced it wouldsponsor an Industrial Exhibition “forthe encouragement and betterment ofthe making of maiolica in the town.”The town fathers acknowledged thatthe state of affairs in Deruta hadsunk so low that it was impossibleto place a student in a nearby factoryfor the purpose of perfecting the artof pottery for there was no one leftto pass on the traditional techniquesof this age-old craft. The desperateneed for some sort of qualification andteaching was clearly recognised but itwas not until the first decade of thiscentury that the initial steps towards anew Rinascimento were taken.Despite a 500 year tradition ofceramic manufacture in Deruta, skillsand techniques were not alwayshanded down to the next generation.Economic crisis combined withchanging taste left a great deal ofvaluable knowledge by the wayside.It was quite recently that much of thisknowledge was revived. The eventthat most clearly illustrates this revivalwas the rediscovery of the tiles of thePavement of San Francesco, whichhad lain buried for centuries. Theywere ‘discovered’ in 1902 during therestoration of the church and althoughdamaged they inspired the communityand set a train of actions in motion.Angelo Micheletti, a doctor and selftaughtpainter, and Francesco Briganti,a scholar were instrumental in thisprocess. In 1901 the pair joined forcesto form a museum, Il Museo Artisticoper i Lavoranti. From the beginningthey viewed Deruta’s cultural heritageas a learning tool to inspire artisans.The original core of their collectionincluded precious, locally foundfragments, donated pieces, modernreproductions and, of course, thePavement.Subsequently the Instituto de’Disegnowas founded.Another key figure during the periodwas Alpinolo Magnini. He had studieddrawing and design at the Fine ArtAcademie in Perugia and on his returnto Deruta in 1907 became curatorof the recently formed museum andhead of the design school. In thesepositions he was to influence and trainan entire generation of artisans.To be continued...Bibliography from part VIBarzini, L. The Italians, Penguin, London, 1968.Berendsen, A. Tiles, A General History, Faber & Faber, London, 1967.Blunt, A. Artistic Theory in Italy 1450-1600, O.U.P., London, 1978.Charleston, R.J. (ed) World Ceramics, Paul Hamlyn, London, 1968.Cohen, D.H.& Hess, C. Looking at European Ceramics (A Guide toTechnical Terms), J.P.Getty Museum, Malibu, 1993.Genitoni, F. (et al) Where Tiles Are Born, Ruggeri Grafiche, Modena, 1996.Gruber, A. (ed) Classicism and the Baroque in Europe, Abbeville Press,New York, 1996.Klein, R.& Zerner, H. Italian Art 1500-1600 (Sources & Documents),Northwestern University Press, Illinois, 1989.Lane, A. A Guide to the Collection of Tiles (In the Victoria & AlbertMuseum), Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London, 1960.Lemmen, H.Van. Tiles in Architecture, Lawrence King, London, 1993.Mazzucchelli, M. The Nun of Monza, Penguin, London, 1966.Partridge, L. The Renaissance in Rome, 1400-1600, Everyman, London, 1996.Poole, J.E. Italian Maiolica & Incised Slipware in the Fitzwilliam Museum,Cambridge, C.U.P., Cambridge, 1995.Procacci, G. History of the Italian People, Penguin, London, 1991.Richards, S. Eighteenth Century Ceramics, Manchester U.P. Manchester, 1999Robb, P.M. Duffy & Snellgrove, Sydney, 1998.Vasari, G. Lives of the Artists, Penguin, London, 1965. (Translation - G. Bull).